Out of that fantastical duo, Ragnarok arguably draws the most comparisons to the latter Marvel tentpole, given its mid-fall release date. But whereas Doctor Strange ground its story in a modern-day setting before a deep dive into the Quantum Realm, Thor: Ragnarok embraced its cosmic roots from the get-go.

It seems that was always part of the plan at Marvel Studios, after Ragnarok scribe Eric Pearson confirmed that human characters were never considered for Thor‘s third solo outing. That means no Jane Foster, no Professor Selvig, and definitely no science crew.

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It shouldn’t be all that surprising that Taika Waititi and his team wanted to double down on Ragnarok‘s fantasy elements, and sure enough, here Pearson draws attention to the film’s arc, and how it sends the God of Thunder off on a journey through Sakaar.

Per Cinema Blend:

No. No, they never did. This is such a different one, and Sakaar and the Hulk take up so much time. Sakaar is crazy enough on its own. If you brush by it… people probably already think it’s verging on too crazy. So, if you were to just gloss over that, then I think that people would have been bothered or not enjoyed it as much. So, we only had so much real estate — plus the introduction of Valkyrie, who I think really came together as a fantastic supporting character. Tessa was so great.

Turns out that “fantastic supporting character” is also the first LGBT person to be featured in Marvel’s cinematic universe, even if it isn’t explicitly addressed in the film itself. And though Thompson has since spoken about Valkyrie’s sexuality via Twitter, we can’t help but feel that this will go down as a missed opportunity.

Alas, Thor: Ragnarok is poised to hit US theaters on November 3rd. It’ll come packing two post-credits scenes, such is the Marvel way, while we’ve also caught wind of Ragnarok‘s long list of cameos.